Dum dum duuuum! Omnia 2 Vs Iphone 3GS

[Guest dwallersv]

I am sure I found a digital compass app for WM somewhere on the web b4.

Weeeeeelllllllllll... sorta, but not really.

The Omnia doesn't have a hardware flux-gate compass built in. Why, I'm not sure -- it would be a trivial cost to add.

As such, the only way a "compass" can work is if you are moving, and the GPS data can be used to determine your direction of motion, and also the NSEW compass directions. When you're not moving, there's no "compass" at all.

Regardless, GPS can never determine which direction you are facing with a compass. For this you need a flux-gate.

I believe the iPhone has this feature.

[Guest prelude]

Guys/girls/plants,

I've been looking for some nudging in the right direction and hoping someone here can. I have an Omnia at the moment. I love it. I have been using windows phones since their inception (Orange SPV->SPV E200->SPV C500->SPV C600->XDA Orbit->XDA Orbit 2->Omnia) and now my contract's up it's upgrade time!

I generally dislike Apple and their beauty over funcationality. However, they've added some bits now that are useful to me. In the shape of cut/paste, A2DP, GPS Turn by turn navigation (CoPilot soon), and it's all housed in a capacitive screen! I do get fed up (even though I've changed the digitizer) with my Omnia, touch the screen and it doesn't register. It's not massively frequent, but enough to annoy me.

Someone talk me out of the iPhone 3GS please! I don't fancy moving to itunes! Omnia 2 is looking good but is it going to be better? (Aside from the technical gumph of 5pm cam/dual led flash, 800mhz processor etc)

Jon

Hi joyboyuk,

Why don't you pick up an iphone and play with it for a while...say 1 day or so...this is what i found after i owned a 3G and now a 3GS. I still have my omnia with me and there are features which i missed but no so much till i want to throw away the iphone against a wall like i do with the omnia.

Here's my story. I have been using Omnia since day 1 it was launched here in my country and yes i was the first few to own it. I've also been on Palm and Winmo for many many years since PPC days (B&W PDA without phone).

So one day i was using my Omnia as usual and the freaking scrolling and select was so lousy i really felt like smashing it against a wall....why can Samsung do it like HTC? Their scrolling is so much smoother. I've also flashed rom version with touchflo interface to Omnia and then there were some bugs here and there which in the end i flashed back to the original rom. Now, alot of people here will tell me that there are tons of custom rom which i use...but look at it this way

- we are fortunate to be more technically incline then most hence we are able to do that.

- why the hell should we be bothered with searching for custom rom and flashing custom rom just because the interface sucks?? For heaven sake we are spending more than $1000 on that device and should be given a product that works.

Then there is this touchplayer that is both good and bad...try sorting, finding a song in your say 800 over songs library...and everytime you added a song, video, etc you need to wait for the update to be able to see the media file in the library...then try the cover flow selection, its so painful to use. Hence....while i was thinking about this problem...the iphone came to mind....So i went ahead and bought a used iphone 3G to play around...

First impression....

- hardware built quality is definitely better than omnia, feels damn solid in hand

- looks way nicer than omnia

- CPU may be slower (at 400MHz+ compared to Omnia 600MHz+) but hey! the interface is smooth as butter and i can safely say at least a 100% better if not more.

- apps launch fast and very much faster than omnia's faster cpu

- The virtual keyboard is so usable and guess what? i don't even have to calibrate my screen!

- The screen is amazing

- Media files management and interface is superb!

- the accelerometer is responsive unlike omnia's

- Google map is so god damn impressive....ermmm even though it's not really useful to me ;p

- safari browser is really the best experience i've seen on mobile platform

- photo gallery is also smooth and lag free. Zooming, etc...also very very smooth and super fast

- If you have user data in the iphone when you flash the firmware, all your data is INTACT!

I was impressed...after spending so many years criticising apple's s***....now i'm thinking i've been wrong!! Further more, i've honestly NOT experience the iphone hanging on me before since then till today.

Now there are definitely things i do not like with the iphone such as:

- Stupid itunes is slow compared to activesync

- Have to manually click sync to sync or pull out the phone and plug back to "auto" sync

- Single task on the iphone

- no proper GPS app (but now there is Sygic one available which is running on my 3GS)

- Total hard reset can take 2hrs!!

I've been using my iPhone ever since and its almost 1yr now and i've just got the 3GS. Now i can even have my MSN, Yahoo, skype account running 24hrs and any msg to me will be pushed to my phone. So i'm using that like unlimited SMS. You can also send me files, etc via the IM. Battery life is reasonably wonderful. Now with the new 3gs, the video recording is superb - 30fps! and its really smooth! you can also edit the video off your phone. Voice control is the best i've ever seen.

As for cracked apps, you can find tons of them and you know what? you can even search and install them right off your phone on a single interface without the need to crawl several websites and downloading them to PC and syncing them across.

Now those winmo diehard can flame me all you want, if you do, i just want to ask you if you have ever tried an iphone for a day or more, if not you're only giving a 1 sided story. You can choose to live with your have to hack and tweak like mad and still not closer to what you want or give iphone an honest try and see if you like it. If you don't then it's back to winmo...nothing to lose. At least you have tried and can honestly said it doesn't suit you.

So joyboyuk, i hope my account with the iphone help you better decide.

Edited July 20, 2009 by prelude

[Guest elsol77]

All useful things, I agree -- and all things that your Omnia already has (or can easily be added). WM has always had cut/paste, one of the 'major innovations' Apple finally got around to adding. The Omnia has also had A2DP - again, something Apple finally got around to adding. And with your Omnia, take your choice of nav software: I use iGO8, and it's just great. Gives turn-by-turn voice guidance; works not only with autos but also with bicycles or even on foot; has tons of customization potential; etc. Honestly, there's nothing else I'd really want or need in that department. So why would I want to switch to Apple?

iPhone customers have complained for a long time about things that simply should have been there in the first place -- like the ones you mentioned -- so they finally added some of them. Yet from all the gushing from the press, you'd think it was some amazing breakthrough just because it's Apple.

Meanwhile, not only do we already have those items but also a few other useful things like a 5-megapixel camera, replaceable battery (sure nice to have a couple on a long trip!), true multi-tasking, and an open architecture where a monopoly manufacturer doesn't feel they alone should decide who gets to innovate and to what extent by keeping total control over a device you paid hard-earned dollars to purchase. And while it doesn't apply to you in the UK (consider yourself very lucky!), in the U.S. the iPhone also means you're stuck with the lousy AT&T service that I couldn't dump quickly enough after suffering with it for two years.

This is a complaint that resonates very strongly with me as well. Out of the box, my new Omnia (Verizon i910) with WM 6.1 really wasn't all that "finger friendly". It had a very unresponsive screen and lousy scrolling, despite Samsung's attempt to improve things with their own custom scrolling engine. As I've posted in several other topics, I've finally discovered a complete solution to the whole touch sensitivity and scrolling issue. It's a very simple 3-step solution -- and if you're still disappointed with yours, I have to believe you haven't yet done all of the following steps:

a) Upgrade to almost any WM 6.5 ROM. 6.1 is a lost cause when it comes to touch scrolling, so this is critical. Also, virtually all the custom 6.5 ROMs alter the pop-up menus so they become much larger and thus quite touch-friendly. Until you move up to 6.5 you will never find true happiness, grasshopper! (wax on, wax off...) :D

b ) Install a copy of the latest version of FTouchSL (I think it's 2.10). There is no need to buy it, because you're never going to activate or actually use the product. Simply download and install a trial copy. Don't change any options; don't enable it -- just install it and forget all about it. By simply installing it, FTouchSL will completely neutralize the crummy Samsung-added scrolling, which lets the nice built-in scrolling that MS added in WM 6.5 (not in 6.1!) shine through in all its glory.

c) Use a registry editor to make one very critical change: Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\TOUCH, change the value of the key 'DownUp' to 150. The default for DownUp is 256, but there are tons of erroneous postings on many forums recommending that the value be increased to 750 or more. This is going in the wrong direction, and will actually make your screen less responsive! The value of DownUp is the time, in milliseconds, that your finger must rest on the panel before scrolling begins. So the last thing you'd want is to have to sit there pressing the screen for 3/4 of a second (750 ms) before anything happens. To make matters worse, some great ROM cookers have fallen prey to the bad advice and actually bake the 750 ms value into their ROMs instead of the default. :) (There's a companion key called 'Click', but I haven't figured out exactly what it does and find I'm happy just leaving it at the default value of 1280.)

Actually, if you've already done both (a) and (b ), the default DownUp value of 256 is not too horrible. But lowering it to 150 made an incredible difference: I have now truly reached the promised land of WM "scrolling nirvana"! Seriously - my Omnia now requires just the very lightest possible touch on the screen to start scrolling, and will track the movements of my finger perfectly at almost any speed and in any application. WM 6.5 really does have very smooth kinetic scrolling, and I can guarantee you that if you perform all three steps above, you will be absolutely blown away by the difference. I strongly urge you to at least try it before doing something rash that you might regret (like moving to the Dark Side!) The only thing will add is that the responsiveness and precision seem even better when I scroll with the tip of a fingernail (again, just ever so lightly) instead of the skin of my blunt fingertip.

For me, the poster child for the worst possible touch and scrolling sensitivity has always been tmail (aka Outlook). But after these changes, I'm happy to say that I can now effortlessly scroll through long emails and even switch forward and backward through the list of emails (using a light left or right swipe). And best of all, these changes will not have any ill effects on apps like Resco Explorer or Opera that contain their own built-in kinetic scrolling.

Apologies for the long post, but I really want to get the word out that everyone CAN enjoy wonderful touch scrolling on their Omnias. If you still want to switch to an iPhone, that's of course up to you -- but you'll have to find a different excuse than this one! ;)

I just upgraded to Bgills 6.5 v3.5 and everything was fine all day. Tonight I installed FTouchSL and it asked for a soft reset. Now my phone shuts off after showing WM6.5 loading screen. What can I do? Soft reset button resets phone, or removing battery allows me to turn on... only to shut off again.

[Guest camz]

It's funny how people wait in line for the iPhone to be available but not going gaga on other, more functional phones. It looks cool and all, everyone would envy you if you have one. Psh. The company is great with putting stuff together to make a nice looking phone. It's a fashion statement, even a status symbol. lol

[Guest vinbeaver]

See that's the thing prelude... the majority of us here like to mod, tweak, hack and customize our phones to fit us. The iphone is a cookie cutter made for "dummies". Nothing personal. The only real advantage I see as it stands is the screen, and having an "app store", but that's where the line is drawn. The majority of us on here want to be individuals, when you pick up an iphone they are all the same with no distinction except for the apps installed. Individuality for the win.

[Guest forelli]

hey chokia, nice list but you forgot to mention a few things like customisation thru reg. editing, the millions of FREE apps for winmo, inter alia.

forelli

[Guest Rob V]

I just upgraded to Bgills 6.5 v3.5 and everything was fine all day. Tonight I installed FTouchSL and it asked for a soft reset. Now my phone shuts off after showing WM6.5 loading screen. What can I do? Soft reset button resets phone, or removing battery allows me to turn on... only to shut off again.

Wow - sorry to hear that. ;) The request by the cab installer to soft-reset is normal. I've done this install dozens of times in WoZZer's 6.5 ROMs and never had a problem. I'm currently running Adrynalyne's ROM and he cooks the unactivated FTouchSL trial right in because its driver makes such an improvement in kinetic scrolling.

FTouchSL does not activate itself by default (which is good), so other than installing its own touch driver, etc. I can't envision what would cause this. Seems like worst case would be that your touch screen wouldn't function properly, but the phone should still boot up after a soft reset.

I've never installed BGills ROM, so your problem may be specific to that - have you posted your problem in his thread? Is it possible that, like Adryn, he already had FTouchSL built-in and your reinstalling it somehow caused a conflict?

Worst case, you may have to resort to a hard reset to get you back in action. Hopefully, you've been doing regular SPB or Resco backups? If you do hard reset, perhaps try installing FTouch before you do any other changes to eliminate the chance that there's a conflict with something else you've installed.

Wish I could be more helpful but I'm kinda shooting in the dark here...

[Guest jonboyuk]

Thanks for that very informative response Prelude. The deal breaker is that I need to use GPS and A2DP with my music simultaneously over bluetooth and I believe the iPhone just cannot do this because it won't multitask, am I right?

[Guest elsol77]

Wow - sorry to hear that. ;) The request by the cab installer to soft-reset is normal. I've done this install dozens of times in WoZZer's 6.5 ROMs and never had a problem. I'm currently running Adrynalyne's ROM and he cooks the unactivated FTouchSL trial right in because its driver makes such an improvement in kinetic scrolling.

FTouchSL does not activate itself by default (which is good), so other than installing its own touch driver, etc. I can't envision what would cause this. Seems like worst case would be that your touch screen wouldn't function properly, but the phone should still boot up after a soft reset.

I've never installed BGills ROM, so your problem may be specific to that - have you posted your problem in his thread? Is it possible that, like Adryn, he already had FTouchSL built-in and your reinstalling it somehow caused a conflict?

Worst case, you may have to resort to a hard reset to get you back in action. Hopefully, you've been doing regular SPB or Resco backups? If you do hard reset, perhaps try installing FTouch before you do any other changes to eliminate the chance that there's a conflict with something else you've installed.

Wish I could be more helpful but I'm kinda shooting in the dark here...

You are Very helpful as are most of the mods here. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of the work you all do to make our phones so much more enjoyable. I did end up doing a hard reset and the phone came back to life. I tried installing Ftouch right after the hard reset with the same result. I'm just going to leave it alone and maybe try flashing a wozzer rom. Thanks again for your help.

[Guest La Traviata]

a) Upgrade to almost any WM 6.5 ROM. 6.1 is a lost cause when it comes to touch scrolling, so this is critical. Also, virtually all the custom 6.5 ROMs alter the pop-up menus so they become much larger and thus quite touch-friendly. Until you move up to 6.5 you will never find true happiness, grasshopper! (wax on, wax off...) ;)

b ) Install a copy of the latest version of FTouchSL (I think it's 2.10). There is no need to buy it, because you're never going to activate or actually use the product. Simply download and install a trial copy. Don't change any options; don't enable it -- just install it and forget all about it. By simply installing it, FTouchSL will completely neutralize the crummy Samsung-added scrolling, which lets the nice built-in scrolling that MS added in WM 6.5 (not in 6.1!) shine through in all its glory.

c) Use a registry editor to make one very critical change: Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\TOUCH, change the value of the key 'DownUp' to 150. The default for DownUp is 256, but there are tons of erroneous postings on many forums recommending that the value be increased to 750 or more. This is going in the wrong direction, and will actually make your screen less responsive! The value of DownUp is the time, in milliseconds, that your finger must rest on the panel before scrolling begins. So the last thing you'd want is to have to sit there pressing the screen for 3/4 of a second (750 ms) before anything happens. To make matters worse, some great ROM cookers have fallen prey to the bad advice and actually bake the 750 ms value into their ROMs instead of the default. :D (There's a companion key called 'Click', but I haven't figured out exactly what it does and find I'm happy just leaving it at the default value of 1280.)

I meant to say "thank you" for this for quite a while but couldn't remember the thread. It really is a big improvement.

[Guest lohtus]

Hi joyboyuk,

Why don't you pick up an iphone and play with it for a while...say 1 day or so...this is what i found after i owned a 3G and now a 3GS. I still have my omnia with me and there are features which i missed but no so much till i want to throw away the iphone against a wall like i do with the omnia.

Here's my story. I have been using Omnia since day 1 it was launched here in my country and yes i was the first few to own it. I've also been on Palm and Winmo for many many years since PPC days (B&W PDA without phone).

So one day i was using my Omnia as usual and the freaking scrolling and select was so lousy i really felt like smashing it against a wall....why can Samsung do it like HTC? Their scrolling is so much smoother. I've also flashed rom version with touchflo interface to Omnia and then there were some bugs here and there which in the end i flashed back to the original rom. Now, alot of people here will tell me that there are tons of custom rom which i use...but look at it this way

- we are fortunate to be more technically incline then most hence we are able to do that.

- why the hell should we be bothered with searching for custom rom and flashing custom rom just because the interface sucks?? For heaven sake we are spending more than $1000 on that device and should be given a product that works.

Then there is this touchplayer that is both good and bad...try sorting, finding a song in your say 800 over songs library...and everytime you added a song, video, etc you need to wait for the update to be able to see the media file in the library...then try the cover flow selection, its so painful to use. Hence....while i was thinking about this problem...the iphone came to mind....So i went ahead and bought a used iphone 3G to play around...

First impression....

- hardware built quality is definitely better than omnia, feels damn solid in hand

- looks way nicer than omnia

- CPU may be slower (at 400MHz+ compared to Omnia 600MHz+) but hey! the interface is smooth as butter and i can safely say at least a 100% better if not more.

- apps launch fast and very much faster than omnia's faster cpu

- The virtual keyboard is so usable and guess what? i don't even have to calibrate my screen!

- The screen is amazing

- Media files management and interface is superb!

- the accelerometer is responsive unlike omnia's

- Google map is so god damn impressive....ermmm even though it's not really useful to me ;p

- safari browser is really the best experience i've seen on mobile platform

- photo gallery is also smooth and lag free. Zooming, etc...also very very smooth and super fast

- If you have user data in the iphone when you flash the firmware, all your data is INTACT!

I was impressed...after spending so many years criticising apple's s***....now i'm thinking i've been wrong!! Further more, i've honestly NOT experience the iphone hanging on me before since then till today.

Now there are definitely things i do not like with the iphone such as:

- Stupid itunes is slow compared to activesync

- Have to manually click sync to sync or pull out the phone and plug back to "auto" sync

- Single task on the iphone

- no proper GPS app (but now there is Sygic one available which is running on my 3GS)

- Total hard reset can take 2hrs!!

I've been using my iPhone ever since and its almost 1yr now and i've just got the 3GS. Now i can even have my MSN, Yahoo, skype account running 24hrs and any msg to me will be pushed to my phone. So i'm using that like unlimited SMS. You can also send me files, etc via the IM. Battery life is reasonably wonderful. Now with the new 3gs, the video recording is superb - 30fps! and its really smooth! you can also edit the video off your phone. Voice control is the best i've ever seen.

As for cracked apps, you can find tons of them and you know what? you can even search and install them right off your phone on a single interface without the need to crawl several websites and downloading them to PC and syncing them across.

Now those winmo diehard can flame me all you want, if you do, i just want to ask you if you have ever tried an iphone for a day or more, if not you're only giving a 1 sided story. You can choose to live with your have to hack and tweak like mad and still not closer to what you want or give iphone an honest try and see if you like it. If you don't then it's back to winmo...nothing to lose. At least you have tried and can honestly said it doesn't suit you.

So joyboyuk, i hope my account with the iphone help you better decide.

I think that the topic is about comparing the Omnia II (not the first) with Iphone 3GS...

And if you do that you will see that the screen of Omnia II is alot better than the first one. Not to talk about the rest.

Try to use a iphone to work (example), as a tool... well just try to take the battery off for a recharged one because you forget to put it on charge the night before. - just examples!!! For more... just google it.

But you are right when you say that omnia isn't perfect. But saying that Iphone is...

The funny is that no one even bother to replay to this kind of posts anymore (for now on me included ;) )

[Guest prelude]

Thanks for that very informative response Prelude. The deal breaker is that I need to use GPS and A2DP with my music simultaneously over bluetooth and I believe the iPhone just cannot do this because it won't multitask, am I right?

Hi jonboyuk,

Yes you can!

There are GPS apps available now for the iphone. I mean officially available in appstore. Prior to that there is a free one available that has all the maps in the world you can download.

Right now, i'm personally using sygic.

A2DP is also available.

Now there is also quickoffice and documents to go which allows you to create and edit ms office files. So in terms of working off the phone, yes you can. transfering files is also easy, don't need to install complicated client/syncing software on your desktop. Simply turn on wifi and you can transfer the files to and fro.

In terms of useful and useless apps, there are tons....

This is one useless but cool app i have on mine: http://www.youtube.com/user/MachWerx

Here's a guitar app for those musically incline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B31WgTP_jvo

you can even strum on it and create music like one of my friends did. He strumed the entire song on that guitar!

Ocarina app:

Piano app: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1222759/ipho...wmusic_pianist/

You can play chords on this one as it supports multi touch

Quickoffice app:

IM+ a universal IM client that supports push in its current version:

This means you can quit the app and put the phone in standby and your friends can still get you thru push notification. As its using push your battery life is not compromised with the persistent connection. So you can use the IM as a better SMS if your friends are on it. There is beejive, im+, agile messenger all supports push.

Games using accelerometer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CosPQyLEkXs

Most of the games use the accelerometer and look at how smooth they render.

You can also check out safari on iphone to see for yourself how good the browsing experience is AND the compatibility with many sites compared to opera and the likes right now.

I'm most willing to share what i've learned with you......just ping me anytime and if i can help i'll definitely help ;)

ipod can run concurrently with apps such as gps. hence you will be able to listen to music and use your GPS.

I'm not saying that the iphone is perfect coz there is really no perfect device. But its one device that does not frustrate as much.....try it and you know what i mean.

As for the replaceable not really an issue as most change phones after 1 to 1.5yrs, so really no issue. For every firmware update your data will be intact unlike winmo which wipes off all your data (contacts, tasks, apps, etc).

Have fun. It will not fail to amaze you. :-)

Edited July 21, 2009 by prelude

[Guest La Traviata]

Speaking of apps, is there an iPhone app that is comparable to SPB Traveller?

http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/pocketpc-software/traveler/

Also, can you use the iPhone as USB stick? In other words, can you create/edit MS office documents via PC, then load them on to the phone and edit them, for example, while you're sitting on a plane, and then when you arrive plug the phone into another PC and edit the docs on the PC or print them off? I heard that if you use the iPhone as USB mass storage the docs can't be accessed/edited via the phone, only via PC (this may have changed with iPhone 3G S).

Many thanks!

Now there is also quickoffice and documents to go which allows you to create and edit ms office files. So in terms of working off the phone, yes you can.

AFAIK this only applies to Word and Excel though, not Power Point.

Edited July 21, 2009 by La Traviata

[Guest jonboyuk]

Hi jonboyuk,

Yes you can!

There are GPS apps available now for the iphone. I mean officially available in appstore. Prior to that there is a free one available that has all the maps in the world you can download....

Have fun. It will not fail to amaze you. :-)

Thanks for all that info again prelude...do you know if I can use my Sony MW 150 bluetooth watch with the 3GS??

[Guest prelude]

Thanks for all that info again prelude...do you know if I can use my Sony MW 150 bluetooth watch with the 3GS??

Hmmm, that i really have no idea. You got to test it out with the folks who sells the phone...or borrow one from your friends.

[Guest Leslie Chern]

i'm holding onto an Omnia II now, and i would say its impressive. the screen's brightness, contrast and sharpness blows the competition away. I was an Omnia user before, putting the 2 phones side by side, it really puts the Omnia in shame.

Having also played with Iphone, I would say Iphone is a fun phone to own. Many apps for u to play with, but functionality and versatility is not as good as Omnia II.

Its more of the Iphone 3.0 Vs WinMo 6.1, Omnia II is very capable piece of hardware, its the software that is holding it back. with WinMo6.5 coming soon for Omnia II, perhaps it would make WinMo devices more 'fun' to use?

Oh ya, there no need to compare with HTC Touch HD, as Touch HD cannot match Omnia II on paper, the good thing is the TouchFlo HTC has, but I believe Samsung is catching up very fast.

[Guest somedude]

Wow, i just checked out some games for the iphone on youtube, and they really look amazing.

Will winmo have games of this caliber being made? Im sorry but most of the games i have played on winmo are pretty poor and outdated. And the java games are pretty much like 8-bit nintendo games.

Thank god for the emulators for winmo. Im looking forward to the playstation one. I just wish that winmo phones were multitouch, it would be much easier to use a virtual keypad.

[Guest Mr. B!]

i think the omnia 2 is technically superior, but the iphone seems like it has "funner" apps, and the games they have for it(i heard ea is bringing madden to the iphone) look impressive as well.

If you were a developer wanting to maximize your applications exposure would you develop for a phone that has the larger % of media exposure/market share or the smaller % of media exposure/market share?

MOI (My Opinion Is)

- If you're looking for fun...iphone

- If you're looking for functionality...Omnia/Omnia II

One of my big things with my phone is needing to have 3 yahoo email accounts and an exchange account and a web browser open at the same time. Going over powerpoint presentations and excel spreadsheets is critical as well. Being stuck in places with no wifi but sharing my 3g connection with my laptop is a blessing. Forgetting my laptop and transfering a big file from a unsofisticated clients pc to my phones sd card so I don't have to make a second trip...

There's just a ton of reasons I personally would stick with the Omnia vs the Ipone.

[Guest Quang05BlkBoxsterS n Omnia]

....- why the hell should we be bothered with searching for custom rom and flashing custom rom just because the interface sucks?? For heaven sake we are spending more than $1000 on that device and should be given a product that works.

SO TRUE like buying a Porsche or Ferrari or Lambo with all super performance right off the lots ;)

Then there is this touchplayer that is both good and bad...try sorting, finding a song in your say 800 over songs library...and everytime you added a song, video, etc you need to wait for the update to be able to see the media file in the library...then try the cover flow selection, its so painful to use. Hence....while i was thinking about this problem...the iphone came to mind....So i went ahead and bought a used iphone 3G to play around...

SO TRUE

First impression....

- hardware built quality is definitely better than omnia, feels damn solid in hand

- looks way nicer than omnia

- CPU may be slower (at 400MHz+ compared to Omnia 600MHz+) but hey! the interface is smooth as butter and i can safely say at least a 100% better if not more.

- apps launch fast and very much faster than omnia's faster cpu

- The virtual keyboard is so usable and guess what? i don't even have to calibrate my screen!

- The screen is amazing

- Media files management and interface is superb!

- the accelerometer is responsive unlike omnia's

- Google map is so god damn impressive....ermmm even though it's not really useful to me ;p

- safari browser is really the best experience i've seen on mobile platform

- photo gallery is also smooth and lag free. Zooming, etc...also very very smooth and super fast

- If you have user data in the iphone when you flash the firmware, all your data is INTACT!

SO TRUE because I went to ATT stores to play around with demo units (3G) a few times.

I was impressed...after spending so many years criticising apple's s***....now i'm thinking i've been wrong!! Further more, i've honestly NOT experience the iphone hanging on me before since then till today.

Now there are definitely things i do not like with the iphone such as:

- Stupid itunes is slow compared to activesync

- Have to manually click sync to sync or pull out the phone and plug back to "auto" sync

- Single task on the iphone

- no proper GPS app (but now there is Sygic one available which is running on my 3GS)

- Total hard reset can take 2hrs!!

SO TRUE AND ESPECIALLY THE MULTI TASK, ACTIVE SYNC, AND LAST BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY: REAL TURN BY TURN VOICE GUIDANCE GPS SW but 3GS has a few GPS apps now.

I've been using my iPhone ever since and its almost 1yr now and i've just got the 3GS. Now i can even have my MSN, Yahoo, skype account running 24hrs and any msg to me will be pushed to my phone. So i'm using that like unlimited SMS. You can also send me files, etc via the IM. Battery life is reasonably wonderful. Now with the new 3gs, the video recording is superb - 30fps! and its really smooth! you can also edit the video off your phone. Voice control is the best i've ever seen.

SO TRUE BUT ITS CAMERA IS STILL A BUMMER PLUS NO HD NOR SLOW MOTION VIDEO

RECORDING

As for cracked apps, you can find tons of them and you know what? you can even search and install them right off your phone on a single interface without the need to crawl several websites and downloading them to PC and syncing them across.

SO TRUE

Now those winmo diehard can flame me all you want, if you do, i just want to ask you if you have ever tried an iphone for a day or more, if not you're only giving a 1 sided story. You can choose to live with your have to hack and tweak like mad and still not closer to what you want or give iphone an honest try and see if you like it. If you don't then it's back to winmo...nothing to lose. At least you have tried and can honestly said it doesn't suit you.

So joyboyuk, i hope my account with the iphone help you better decide.

Now if next iphone (capacitive screen and slim form factor) has good 5mpx camera with HD recording, multitask (a must for me!), well everything like i900/Omnia 2/HD (bigger 3.7 OMLED) or better (HDMI output, HD radio like Zune HD) or with a projector like the new digital cameras then no doubt I will jump ship. THEN IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST PERFECT PDA PHONE IN THE WORLD :) .

Edited August 5, 2009 by Quang05BlkBoxsterS n Omnia